September 22, 2012

KOLKATA: witnessed yet
another historic rally with hundreds of thousands of people marching against
imperialist aggression and protesting the growing intervention of US imperialism
in India. The rally, held on September 1, was organised by the Left Front.

People, mostly from the
districts of South Bengal, participated with full of enthusiasm to mark their
protest against US aggression and to commemorate the Anti-Imperialist
Day of 1st September. The state leaders of Left Front led the rally that
started at 1 pm fromRani Rashmoni Road. It took more than two and half hours
for the rally to reach Deshbandhu Park, even as the end part of the
rally was still waiting at Rani Rashmoni Road. The rally was fully
decorated with flags, festoons, and most importantly the mobile tableaus that
remained the most attractive part of the rally. It was exactly
4:30 pm when the last tableau along with people reachedDeshbandhu Park in
the northern end of the city. People from all walks of life participated in the
rally. Thousands marched with Red flags, once again registering the nature of
protest in West Bengal.

The rally raised voice
against US imperialism’s thirst for natural resources in the world, its war
crimes in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, its interference in South Asia,
particularly in Indian economy through FDI in retail sector, privatisation of
insurance sector, pension funds etc. The rally raised the voice for defending sovereignty
and independent foreign policy of the country.

Addressing the huge
gathering at the end of the rally, CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee gave a backdrop of USimperialism to correlate the magnitude
of the contemporary imperialist aggression in the world. Having mentioned the
Atom Bomb attack over Hiroshima and Nagasaki as a birth of
today’s US-led imperialism, Bhattacharjee explained the contours of imperialist
aggression from Vietnam to present day Iraq. Now the danger of
imperialism comes in a different direction when US and allied countries target China and
try to set base in India. We won’t tolerate US base in India to
blockade India and would launch bigger protests, he said.

Bhattacharjee said that India is
trying to set up a strategic partnership or alliance with USA. “What
strategic alliance is this? We will protest against any such alliance. US secretary
of state Hillary Clinton had made her visit to West Bengal. It was
unprecedented for her to visit Writers’ Buildings? Why did she go
there”, he questioned. The state government has also expressed its inclination
to invite US president for the youth festival in the state.
Bhattacharjee warned of strong resistance if any such eventuality took place.

Left Front chairman Biman
Basu while congratulating the people for making the rally a great success said
that US corporates are using our markets to meet their internal crisis. “They
are trying to control our economy. So we must keep our struggle on against such
imperialist aggression. If any of US official comes to commemorate the 150th
birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda on 12th January next year, the state
will definitely revolt”, asserted Basu.

Siliguri too witnessed
an impressive anti-imperialist rally on the day where at least 10,000 people
participated.

KOLKATA: 1ST September, 1939 was the day
when fascist Germany led by Adolph Hitler invaded Poland to
start the world's deadliest war till date against humanity. Since then the
destruction of life and property continued for five long years - throwing the
entire world into war and anarchy. To remind ourselves of the futility and
destruction of war, people of the world have been observing 1st September as
the World Peace and Anti War Day. West Bengal has a long tradition of
observing the World Peace Day. This year is going to be no exception. The Left
Front Committee of West Bengal has convened a rally in Kolkata and Siliguri to
observe this day.

The non-aligned foreign policy of our
country has seemed to be derailed. India has voted for US proposal
of strengthening sanctions on Syria in Security Council when even Pakistan dared
to abstain. Before that India supported US-British proposal against Iran in
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). India-US military
understanding has also been in progress. Despite protests from different
corners of the country, the government went ahead with Defense deal, joint army
exercises, assistance in military operations etc. India has also
endorsed CTBT and civil nuclear treaty. Imperialism now has a direct impact on
the life of every Indian citizen and the UPA government in pushing the country
to be a junior partner and collaborator of US imperialism. The recent
WikiLeaks exposes have also thrown light on how the Indian government has bent
to the whims of US imperialism. The pipeline issue with Tehran went
under wraps after indirect intervention from US.

The military aspirations of imperialism
have been on violent display during recent period. Unresisted, the imperialism
would bring the humanity to the verge of destruction once again. There is
therefore urgent need to bolster up the flag of humanity and raise our voice in
favor of peace and against war. The World Peace and Anti War Day, therefore, is
still relevant, stressed the Left Front leaders.

The Left Front’s demands on World Peace
and Anti War Day:

●No war but restoration of peace.
Imperialism be demolished. US imperialism go back.

●Raise voice against imperialist aggression
in several countries

●US -Israel must go back from Palestine

●US imperialism must go back from the
Arab world

●US interference in South Asia has
to be stopped

●US warships must be removed from the
Indian Ocean and Bay of Bengal

●UPA government has to answer for their
soft stand against blatant US pressure

●Foil imperialist conspiracies against India.
Stop US interference in India

KOLKATA: RESPECTFUL tributes were paid to Comrade
Lakshmi Sehgal in Kolkata in the commemoration meeting organised by the Left
Front on August 14. The meeting, presided over by Left Front chairman Biman
Basu, was addressed by Ashok Ghosh, the veteran leader of Forward Block and
Subhashini Ali, CPI(M) leader.

Subhashini Ali told
about her mother who was dedicated to the cause of downtrodden and the working
people. She fondly remembered how her mother used to devote more time for
children of toiling people rather than caring for her own daughters. Ali also
told that after Comrade Sehgal joined CPI(M) she used to term it as ‘home
coming’.

Ashok Ghosh described
the outline history of INA and the important role it played in India’s struggle
for freedom. ‘Captain Lakshmi Sehgal was the product of a revolutionary
struggle against imperialism”, he said.

Biman Basu, in this
respect, stressed that the struggle against imperialism has not stopped. In
fact, it has assumed greater importance in the backdrop of US hegemonic
belligerence and its growing military-political presence in Asia. “Indian
ruling classes are subscribing to the imperialist pressure and weakening the sovereignty
of the country” , he asserted.

Left Front has called
for a mass rally against imperialist designs on September 1. There will be a
week-long campaign against imperialism, starting from August 24. The
meeting took oath to carry forward the legacy of Comrade Lakshmi
Sehgal through wider struggle against imperialism.

KOLKATA: WEST Bengal
chief minister Mamata Banerjee hit out at the judiciary on August 14, alleging
there were instances when court judgements have been delivered for money. This
was a statement made while speaking at a seminar in the Assembly House on the
platinum jubilee of the state assembly.

"What I see. Why
should many judgements today be delivered for money? Why? I am sorry to say. I
am saying this in the Assembly," she said with venom. "One may file a
contempt case against me. I will be really very happy. I may be charged with
defamation and I may even be arrested. But I will have to give my opinion at
some place or the other," the chief minister said.

This comment has not
been observed as a general or stray criticism of a section of the judiciary. It
was more a reflection of consecutive setbacks for state government in the
courts in recent period, which included Singur law.

That the chief minister
was merciless for anyone questioning her government has been reflected by her
attack against the judicial commissions. Questioning the efficacy and
accountability of judicial commissions, the chief minister said "attempts
are being systematically made to destroy Constitutional structures.... So much
money is spent on these commissions, but the only thing they do is talk to
higher officials and do nothing," she added. "The commissions summon
the chief secretary, the home secretary, the DGP, the commisisoner of police
and they are made to sit for 12 hours," she alleged.

This was her reaction to
the strong verdict of state human rights commission regarding the cartoon
controversy. The commission has strongly criticised the police action against
Professor Ambeksh Mahapatra and his neighbor Subrata Sengupta in April this
year for forwarding an e-mail consisting of a cartoon of Mamata Banerjee and
Mukul Roy. The commission has directed the state government to pay Rs 50,000
each to both of them as compensation. The commission also directed to initiate
departmental proceeding against the police officers.

The chief minister’s
intolerance to any amount of criticism has now spread to judiciary. But it has
evoked strong reactions from different quarters in the country. "It is a
serious allegation against the entire judiciary, which is very irresponsible,
especially for a chief minister," Supreme Court Bar Association president
Pravin Parekh said. He said SCBA has not taken any decision to move the court
against the remarks made by the chief minister. He, however, said he has heard
that some petition is likely to be filed. Parekh said there is an option to
move the Supreme Court or the Calcutta High Court for contempt and also for
seeking damages.

"What about the
cases, she has won in court? Who paid the judges? Mamata? This shows the
absurdity of the allegations. I mean, one expects a mature reaction...I am very
very disturbed," eminent lawyer Soli Sorabjee said. Retired Justice
Santosh Hegde, who was once Lokayukta of Karnataka, said the chief
minister should have been more prudent. "...If this is going to be the
tone and tenor of Indian democracy, then I think our Constitution is in serious
peril," senior Supreme Court advocate Harish Salve said. Terming as
"highly irresponsible" Banerjee's statement, Constitutional expert
and lawyer P P Rao said, "this is not expected from a person holding a
responsible position".

(The following is the text of the speech delivered by
Sitaram Yechury, Polit Bureau member of the CPI(M) in Kolkata on August 16,
2012 on the occasion of Golden Jubilee of Deshhitaishee.)

REVOLUTIONARY congratulations to the West Bengal state
committee of the CPI(M) for successfully completing fifty years of publication
of the Party weekly Deshhitaishee. This
golden jubilee has come facing many trials and tribulations imposed by evolving
contemporary political developments that had demanded many a sacrifice of life
and limb of thousands of our comrades.
Revolutionary red salute to our martyrs.
It is, indeed, a matter of immense satisfaction that we are today
commemorating this golden jubilee.

I

The importance of the Party paper can never be
undervalued. Vladimir Lenin who provided
leadership for ushering in humanity’s transition from capitalism to socialism
had in 1901 said in “Where to begin?”: “In our opinion, the starting-point of
our activities, the first step towards creating the desired organisation, or,
let us say, the main thread which, if followed, would enable us steadily to
develop, deepen, and extend that organisation, should be the founding of an
All-Russian political newspaper. A newspaper is what we most of all need;
without it we cannot conduct that systematic, all-round propaganda and
agitation, consistent in principle, which is the chief and permanent task of
Social-Democracy in general and, in particular, the pressing task of the moment
… Never has the need been felt so acutely as today for reinforcing dispersed
agitation in the form of individual action, local leaflets, pamphlets, etc., by
means of generalised and systematic agitation that can only be conducted with
the aid of the periodical press… Without such a newspaper we cannot possibly
fulfill our task – that of concentrating all the elements of political
discontent and protest, of vitalising thereby the revolutionary movement of the
proletariat.”

Further he says: “The role of a newspaper, however, is
not limited solely to the dissemination of ideas, to political education, and
to the enlistment of political allies. A newspaper is not only a collective
propagandist and a collective agitator, it is also a collective organiser.”

Later in “What is to be done?”, Lenin says: “This
newspaper would become part of an enormous pair of smith’s bellows that would
fan every spark of the class struggle and of popular indignation into a general
conflagration. Around what is in itself still a very innocuous and very small,
but regular and common, effort, in the full sense of the word, a regular army
of tried fighters would systematically gather and receive their training.”

II

Many, however, say that the civilisational advances of
the 20th century, particularly the scientific and technological advances, have
so completely transformed the situation that instantaneous communication is
today possible in a manner that would be incomprehensible at the beginning of
the 20th century. The emergence of radio
and television with the latest invasion of cyberspace and cell phones, some
argue, has rendered the newspaper as an obsolete means of communication. Therefore, they would ask if there is any
point in recollecting Lenin’s views on the Party newspaper.

Notwithstanding these advances, the importance of the
Party newspapers does not merely remain but has grown multifold to meet the
current challenges. In every age and time, the ruling classes have always
consolidated their class rule by exercising an ideological hegemony over
contemporary society. As Marx and Engels
said, “The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch, the ruling ideas:
i.e., the class which is the ruling material force of society is at the same
time its ruling intellectual force. The class which has the means of material
production at its disposal, consequently also controls the means of mental
production so that the ideas of those who lack the means of mental production
are on the whole subject to it. The ruling ideas are nothing more than the
ideal expression of the dominant material relations; dominant material
relations, grasped as ideas: hence of the relations which made the one class
the ruling one, therefore, the ideas of its dominance. The individuals
composing the ruling class possess among other things, consciousness and
therefore think. In so far therefore, as they rule as a class and determine the
extent and compass of an historical epoch, it is self-evident that they do this
in its whole range, hence among other things rule also as thinkers, as
producers of ideas, and regulate the production and distribution of the ideas
of their age; thus their ideas are the ruling ideas of the epoch.” (German
Ideology, Moscow 1976, p. 67 emphasis added.)

It is this hegemony of the `ideas' of ruling classes
that as Gramsci explains is not enforced merely by the State. The State is only
the "outer ditch" behind which stands a powerful system of
"fortresses and earth works", a network of cultural institutions and
values which buttress the rule and domination of the ruling classes.

Under capitalism, while culture as an ideological
formation bolsters the rule of capital, the forms of culture go through a
process of commodification, as everything else in society. Much has been written
about this process and needs no repetition. The cultural products of capitalism
are aimed at achieving social control rather than expressions of social
creativity. The exchange value of these products always supersede their use
value. This, of course, does not hold for those cultural products that emerge
from dissent and opposition to capitalism...The cultural hegemony that such a
globalisation process seeks is expressed in the need to create a homogenisation
of public taste. The more homogenous the taste the easier it is to develop
technologies for the mechanical reproduction of `cultural products' for large
masses. Commercialisation of culture is a natural corollary of such
globalisation.

Viewed in terms of class hegemony, the culture of
globalisation seeks to divorce people from their actual realities of day to day
life. Culture here acts not as an appeal to the aesthetic, but as a
distraction, diversion from pressing problems of poverty and misery.
Consequently, it seeks to disrupt the energy of the people and their struggle
to change and improve their miserable existence. As Michael Parenti says,
"A far greater part of our culture is now aptly designated as "mass
culture", "popular culture", and even "media culture",
owned and operated mostly by giant corporations whose major concur is to
accumulate wealth and make the world safe for their owners, the goal being
exchange value rather than use value, social control rather than social
creativity. Much of mass culture is organised to distract us from thinking too
much about larger realities. The fluff and puffery of entertainment culture
crowds out more urgent and nourishing things. By constantly appealing to the
lowest common denominator, a sensationalist popular culture lowers the common
denominator still further (media page 3 culture). Public tastes become still
more attuned to cultural junk food, the big hype, the trashy, flashy, wildly
violent, instantly stimulating, and desperately superficial offerings.

"Such fare often has real ideological content.
Even if supposedly apolitical in its intent, entertainment culture (which is
really the entertainment industry) is political in its impact, propagating
images and values that are often downright sexist, racist, consumerist,
authoritarian, militaristic, and imperialist." (Monthly Review, February
1999)

Media culture that globalisation promotes is starkly
exposed by the manner in which it underrates or outrightly ignores people’s
protests and their conditions of miserable existence. For instance, the very day when team Anna was
holding their hunger strike on issue of corruption, over two lakhs of workers
at the call of the All India Trade Unions had marched to the parliament in
Delhi protesting against price rise and corruption. While the former hogged the headlines and
dominated the electronic media, the action of the working class was largely
ignored. Adding insult to injury, the Times of India, in an obscure page
carried a small news item bemoaning the traffic disruption caused by the
worker’s rally in the country’s capital!
Yet again, in July this year, the five-day dharna by the Left parties
demanding food security for our people was again largely ignored while team
Anna’s movement that finally fizzled out taking place next to the Left parties
dharna, once again hogged the headlines and the electronic media attention.

Nearly a hundred and fifty years ago, Marx in his
analysis of capitalism made a very penetrating observation. "Production
not only provides the material to satisfy a need, but it also provides the need
for the material. When consumption emerges from its original primitive
crudeness and immediacy -- and its remaining in that state would be due to the
fact that production was still primitively crude – then it is itself as a
desire brought about by the object. The
need felt for the object is induced by the perception of the object. An object d'art creates a public that has
artistic taste and is able to enjoy beauty – and the same can be said of any
other product. Production accordingly produces not only an object for the
subject, but also a subject for the object. (Karl Marx,
"Introduction" to Economic Manuscripts of 1857-58) (Emphasis added.)

The billions of dollars spent annually on advertising
are creating the `subjects' for the `objects' that the system churns out.
Likewise in culture. The audience is first created to receive a product of mass
consumption. The homogenisation of public tastes is thus created through an
advertisement blitz that dullens if not erases critical faculties. It is not
therefore, as though, this `culture' is catering to people's taste. Tastes and
ideas are being created to accept uncritically the `culture' that is being
churned out.

How does one then combat such a cultural onslaught? An
onslaught that drives away truly popular people's culture. At the first
instance, it is necessary to bring back on to the cultural agenda people's
issues, whose obfuscation and erasure is the raison d'etre of the culture of
globalisation and communalism. This is paramount to counter the cultural
hegemony that they seek.

III

The current situation in which we are conducting our
political activities today is dominated by imperialist globalisation. The CPI(M) 20th Congress Ideological
Resolution notes:

“The ideological war to establish the intellectual and
cultural hegemony of imperialism and neo-liberalism has been on the offensive
during this period. Aided by this very process of globalisation and the vastly
elevated levels of technologies, there is convergence of information,
communications and entertainment (ICE) technologies into mega corporations.
This monopolisation of the sphere of human intellectual activity and the
control over dissemination of information
through the corporate media is a salient feature of this period that
seeks to continuously mount an ideological offensive against any critique or
alternative to capitalism. The cultural hegemony that such a globalisation
process seeks is expressed in the need to create a homogenisation of public
taste. The more homogenous the taste, the easier it is to develop technologies
for the mechanical reproduction of ‘cultural products’ for large masses.
Commercialisation of culture is a natural corollary of such globalisation.
Viewed in terms of class hegemony, the
culture of globalisation seeks to divorce people from their actual
realities of day to day life. Culture here acts not as an appeal to the
aesthetic, but as a distraction, diversion from pressing problems of poverty
and misery.”

The development of ICE technologies and the control
over them, also allows imperialism to develop and maintain sophisticated
surveillance technologies. Such technologies are being increasingly used to
monitor, influence and sabotage a large variety of popular movements that
challenge the hegemony of imperialism.

For instance, the mega corporation Time had earlier
merged with the entertainment giant Warner Bros. The information giant American
Online Ltd (AOL) has now acquired Time-Warner at a cost of $ 164 million to
become the largest ICE conglomerate in the world. Rupert Murdoch now commands a
combined news, entertainment and internet enterprise which is valued at $ 68
billion. Likewise, Walt Disney has now acquired Marvel (of Spiderman fame). The
cultural products that are universally created are bombarded across the world
garnering phenomenal profits. As recently as in January 2011, Comcast Corp has
completed its takeover of NBC Universal,
creating a $ 30 billion media behemoth that controls not just how
television shows and movies are made,
but how they are delivered to people’s homes. Comcast, the No. 1 provider of
video and residential internet service in the United States (with over 23 million video subscribers and nearly 17
million internet subscribers), acquired a 51 per cent stake in NBC Universal from General
Electric Co. The newly created joint venture is
called NBC Universal LLC and its assets include NBC broadcast stations,
cable channels like Bravo, USA and E!, the Universal movie studio as well as
theme parks among other assets.

Some instances in the Indian context: Reliance
Entertainment (formerly known as Reliance BIG Entertainment) is a wholly owned
subsidiary of the Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group, its media and
entertainment business, across content and distribution platforms. The key
content initiatives are across movies, music, sports, gaming, internet and
mobile portals, leading to direct opportunities in delivery across the emerging
digital distribution platforms: digital
cinema, IPTV, DTH and Mobile TV. Reliance ADA Group acquired Adlabs Films
Limited in 2005, one of the largest entertainment companies in India, which has
interests in film processing,
production, exhibition and digital cinema. Having won 45 stations in the
bidding, BIG 92.7 FM was India’s largest private FM radio network. Big Cinemas
is India’s largest cinema chain with over 516 screens spread across India, US,
Malaysia and Netherlands. The chain caters to over 35 million consumers. BIG
Cinemas has established leadership in film exhibition in India with 253 screens
and accounts for 10 to 15 per cent of box office contributions of large
movies. The company forayed into the
largely untapped video rental market in India by acquiring Big Flix and started further expansion. In
April 2008, Reliance Big Entertainment acquired DTS Digital Images, a digital
film restoration company based in Burbank, California. On 15 July 2009,
Reliance Big Entertainment and Steven Spielberg announced a joint venture with
a funding of $ 825 million. Recently, Big 92.7 FM launched a radio station in Singapore
considering 8 per cent of the population residing there is Indian. On January 15, 2010, Reliance
reportedly joined the bidding for MGM. On April 5, 2010, they acquired a 50 per
cent stake in Codemasters. Reliance had
invested about 26 billion rupees in Eenadu Group's regional TV channels when it
announced the deal with the TV18 group's Network18 on January 3, 2012. Reliance holds a 100 per cent economic
interest in five ETV regional news channels and five ETV general entertainment
channels. It also owns a 49 per cent economic interest in ETV Telugu and ETV Telugu News.

Such mega corporatisation of media is playing havoc
with distorted dissemination of information and deliberate campaigns of
disinformation. The rise of the
phenomena of `paid news’ shows the extent of commercialisation of media. Truth and objectivity are the casualties that
buttress the hegemony of the ruling classes.

IV

This monopolisation of media as a weapon of
ideological hegemony that the ruling classes unleash needs to be combated much
more aggressively. New ideological
postulates like post-modernism are aggressively propagated. Its main thrust, as with all other
anti-Communist ideological expressions of the past, is the negation of classes
and, hence, of class struggle. It seeks
to compartmentalise society in terms of ethnic, regional and other micro
identities and, thus, disrupt the unity of the exploited classes. Such theories, therefore, weaken the class
unity of the exploited people and, thus, buttress the class rule of the
exploiters.

The Party newspaper, along with other forms of media,
today has to rise to meet such
challenges and, therefore, act as a powerful weapon in the hands of the revolutionary forces to propagate their
ideas, to organise the exploited classes and, thus, to strengthen the struggle
for creating a society free from all forms of exploitation – socialism.

I am confident that Deshhitaishee will continue to
play its role and will rise to effectively meet and combat the current
challenges.

KOLKATA: ON the occasion of birth centenary of Comrade P Sundarayya, an
exhibition on his life and work was inaugurated in Muzaffar Ahmad library in
Ganashakti Bhavan. The poster exhibition was inaugurated on August 5, the
birthday of Comrade Muzaffar Ahmad.

In the exhibition, outline of PS’s life from his childhood has
been portrayed through photos and graphics. His extraordinary work among the
masses, the period of first expansion of the Communist Party in southern India were
highlighted through excerpts from different books. A great part of the
exhibition is obviously devoted to Telengana Peoples’ Armed Struggle. PS’s role
in the fight against revisionism, then again against sectarianism has been
detailed. Along with posters, some of his books and Bengali translation of his
pamphlets have been displayed. His important articles in Peoples’
Democracyand other Party organs were displayed as photographs.

Biman Basu inaugurated the exhibition. CPI(M) state leaders were
present. The exhibition will continue in Ganashakti Bhavan upto August 12.
However, according to suggestions by senior Party leaders, the exhibition may
travel to districts.

West Bengal state committee of CPI(M) has decided to observe
PS birth centenary in a fitting manner, specially through programme of Party
education. On September 14, there will be a central public meeting in Kolkata
to be addressed by Party general secretary Prakash Karat.

KOLKATA: The Left Front in West Bengal observed three
day sit-in demonstration in Kolkata from August 1 demanding food security for
all. The sit-in took place in Rani Rashmoni Road. At the beginning Left
Front chairman Biman Basu addressed the gathering. He criticised the centre’s
dilly-dallying with food security bill. He demanded universal PDS throughout
the country.

Leader of opposition in Bengal assembly, Suryakanta Misra said
that USA and international finance capital was pressuring the Indian
government to follow a policy of export of cash crops, which would bring
disaster for food security of our people. He castigated the state government
for its failure in addressing the crisis in agricultural production, fair
prices for the farmers and for the spiraling price rise as well.

The second day of the sit-in was vibrant with participation of
mass organisations. CITU, SFI, DYFI, AIDWA activists joined in the
demonstration. Among others Shyamal Chakraborty, Minati Ghosh, Abhas
Roychowdhury, Sayandip Mitra addressed the sit in.

On the last day CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Buddhadeb
Bhattacharjee, in his address, said the policies of central government were
primarily responsible for the unabated price rise. The centre’s policy of
letting everything work according to market forces has led to such a situation.
We want subsidy for the people, not for the richer sections in the form of tax
relief. The struggle for food security will continue, he asserted.

KOLKATA: IN the bizarre media scenario in West Bengal, where almost all
business newspapers and channels, except a handful, are brazenly anti-Left, the
only viable and steady alternative is Ganashakti, the CPI(M) daily organ that
has a broad readership and broader acceptance among people for decades.

In the changed political scenario in the state, Ganashakti has
practically become the sole voice raising questions about the functioning of
the state government, depicting the atrocities being committed against the peasants,
workers, women and other democratic sections of people. It has already exposed
corruption, nepotism and utter failures of the TMC-Congress government.
Naturally, Ganashakti has also become a target for attack.

In fact, for the last 14 months Ganashakti has been facing fierce attack
of the ruling parties of West Bengal. From urban belt to rural belt, the
attacks were everywhere. The attacks were initiated all over the state just
after the declaration of results of the assembly election. The ruling party
activists immediately started threatening and also initiated attacks in many
areas to stop the sale and circulation of Ganashakti. It was declared as
‘banned’, hawkers were attacked, and even the packets of the daily were burnt.
Several boards of Ganashakti were dismantled by the anti-socials. Yet,
the circulation and sale of the daily continued under such difficult situation.
The readers’ increasing interest toward Ganashakti is also evident.

Beside the physical attack, the state government, in a completely
illegal move, stopped issuing advertisements to Ganashakti. Even private
institutions that are issuing advertisements to the daily are facing direct or
indirect threats from the ruling party. So, Ganashakti has been facing huge
financial loss for the last one year. Moreover, the devaluation of the rupee in
comparison to dollar has resulted in a steep increase in the price of
newsprint. Allied expenditures have also increased.

In these circumstances, the CPI(M) West Bengal state committee has given
a call for collecting fund for Ganashakti from people. Party state secretary
Biman Basu, in an appeal, said that Ganashakti has been playing its role even
amidst these multidimensional attacks. It is only this daily that has been
regularly taking initiatives to protect the interests of poor people including
the workers and peasants and also effectively exposing the attacks on
democracy. Through its news, features, articles and special contributions
Ganashakti has been instrumental in revealing the undemocratic face of the
state government.

Basu said that Ganashakti has been resolutely continuing the fight
against the anti-people policies of the central government. It has been
operating as the only alternative newspaper when almost all business newspaper
groups are playing anti-Left role and eulogiser of TMC and Congress. Daily
newspapers and other organs of Communist Party have always tried to portray the
real picture of the society to the largest possible reach. Ganashakti has the
rich inheritance of Janajudhha and Swadhinata publications. The common people
have always extended assistance in publication and management of the organs of
the Communist Party. The people of West Bengal protected Ganashakti during
Emergency. In those dark days many people risked their lives to render support
for Ganashakti. The support of the readers helped it to overcome stiff hurdles.

Basu appealed to workers, sympathisers of Left forces, common people and
above all the readers of Ganashakti to stand by the daily in this adverse
situation. Fund raising to support Ganashakti will be organised in the entire
month of August. Basu expressed confidence that Ganashakti will continue to
play a strong role to bolster the right to freedom of expression of the
democratic people of West Bengal in the future.

KOLKATA: THE Mamata Banerjee
government received a jolt when the Calcutta High Court declared its Singur
Land Rehabilitation and Development Act 2011 as illegal and unconstitutional.
The state government had passed the act on June 13, 2011, exactly a month after
the assembly poll results were declared, among apprehension that the move was
not legally valid. On September 28, after a challenge by Tata Motors, a single
judge bench of the Calcutta High Court upheld the validity of the act. But on
June 22 of this year, Justices Pinkai Chandra Ghose and M K Chaudhury ruled
that the act violated the constitution on three counts. First, it did not have
presidential assent. Second, returning land to the original owners did not
constitute public interest, and hence the land could not be vested by the
government. And third, the act did not have any provision for compensation to
Tata Motors for the losses they have suffered.

MOVE ILL-CONCEIVED FROM BEGINNING

The move by the state government was
ill-conceived from the very beginning and it was more of a publicity stunt than
any real intention to solve the Singur issue. The face of loss in court was
compounded by the governor’s assertion that he had no idea that Singur
legislation needed presidential approval. The governor said he had been given a
legal advice on that line only. “I thought we did not require presidential
approval. That was legal advice also,” Governor M K Narayanan told after three
days of the court verdict. The governor’s public statement indicated that the
state government had misled even him.

While criticising the attitude of the
government, the CPI(M) called for such a
resolution of the problem as would defend the interests of the people of
Singur.

CPI(M) Polit Bureau member and West Bengal’s former industry
minister Nirupam Sen observed that there should be a fair solution of the
Singur problem without considering who had won or who was defeated. Sen said,
“The factory in Singur was abandoned after completion of 90 per cent of works.
It damaged the image of the state. Also damage was done to the people of
Singur.”

Sen further said, “When we were in government,
the then opposition (now ruling party) demanded return of land to the so called
unwilling farmers. We took legal consultancy and observed that it was legally
impossible. We wanted to start the factory after giving fair compensation to
and rehabilitation of the farmers. But we failed to convince the opposition. We
repeatedly told at that time that the so called unwilling farmers of ‘400
acres’ were just a myth. But a huge campaign by the opposition and a section of
the media created confusion. Now that the new government has taken initiative
to return the land, it was found that hardly 30 acres of land of the
‘unwilling’ farmers exist in realty. The entire state had to bear the cost of
abandoning the project. When the new government wanted to push through the new
bill in the assembly, we raised doubts about its legal validity. We told them
to move after checking the legal points. But they refused to heed. And now the
people of Singur are the worst sufferers as they lost both the factory and the
land.” Sen appealed to the state government to take proper lessons and move
forward in a manner so that an industry could be built there.

Leader of opposition in West Bengal assembly,
Surjya Kanta Misra, said in his reaction to the court verdict, “We were for
industry in Singur. But we were defeated. TMC has got the mandate of the
people. In such a situation we did not oppose the move to return land if that
was possible. But we repeatedly told the government, a year ago when the bill
was moved, that proper legal method was necessary. We told the government that
their hasty effort would come into conflict with the central law. There was no
provision of differentiation between willing and unwilling farmers. It was
better to add an extra clause to the central law, like Tamilnadu did. But the
chief minister was not in the habit of listening to any advice. She thought her
words were law. It is the state government which created the impasse.”

CPIM) state secretary Biman Basu criticised the
state government for not heeding to advice of the opposition and not taking
care about legal implications. Basu also questioned how the governor gave his
assent without cross checking the legal option.